Best Cold Medicine for Toddler

A warning on Zicam...

It has a bad habit of destroying the sense of smell. The company settled with over 12million in damages with a class action lawsuit. Some 800 people per year -at last read- report a total loss of the sense of smell after using Zicam, and there are hundreds of lawsuits filed / in progress.

Cold = 2 weeks
No sense of smell = forever

Have you talked to her ped? It is really best to do that. I would NOT medicate your asthmatic child on your own without PROFESSIONAL advice (we are not professional medical personnel here on this site.)

Good luck!
Dawn

Yeah, I agree, no cold medicine for a 3 year old. I would talk to your doctor about what is best since your child has asthma that has already caused problems for her. We give our kids allergy medicine when they have a runny nose or a cough, but I probably wouldn't do that without asking a doctor or pharmacist because of her asthma issues.

Please talk with the pediatrician, not us. In the past few years, using cold medications for infants and toddlers has been shown to be a problem and these medications do not always work well, and that can mean that adults give too much the next time to see what does work.

Talk in detail -- don't just ask the doctor to name a medication for a quick fix. See what else you can do -- have you tried: Cool mist humidifiers in her room day and night? Testing her for allergies, especially if she has "constant runny nose and congestion" as you describe? Seeing if there are potential allergens in your home or her room (mold, dust, pets--yes, you can develop allergies to pets you have lived with for years, so don't think that "We've had Fido since before she was born, how can she be allergic now?" She can.) Look beyond just medicating the symptoms of a "cold" and explore whether (1) it's really a cold or something else like allergies and (2) whether her asthma is under appropriate control.

Even when it IS a cold -- meds like zycam do not cure it, they only help with symptoms for a while. Check with your doctor and don't just assume she gets colds all the time and also don't assume that she just needs some medicine.

My guy is 3.5 and just got over what I'd thought was a cold, it was asthma :-/ He had to go on Albuterol, a steroid, for 10 days. The doctor says it was brought on by hay fever/allergies, which I thought he'd had at first but when it got worse I then thought it was a cold and treated it as such with ibuprofen, honey elixir and children's Musinex.

At their age treating the symptoms is all you can do, no Zicam or cough medicine. If her cold is concerning you take her to see her doctor, don't blow it like I did, it might be asthma.

Talk to a doctor about this...Perhaps it is not a cold bringing it on but allergies. If she has allergies, they can relieve her "cold".

My son gets bronchitis brought on by allergies. He ended up needing a nebulizer to help him breath while knocking out the congestion. I now look for signs and start him on his allergy medication, the nebulizer if it gets worse than that, and finally, if breathing is difficult, and a fever, to the doctor for medication.

This year I have been lucky, and he's not had more than one round of sick at the start of the school year that required doctor's attention.

In short, no cold medicine, fluids, rest, and allergy medicine if she has allergies.

Hope she feels better.

I usually would call the nurse at my son's ped office ,give the symptoms and they would tell me what to give. It was limited and I don't think at zycam was ever suggested. They suggested a teaspoon of honey too.Colds last a long while sometimes. My son had the most colds when he was 3.

Over the counter meds.... do NOT CURE the "cold."
It only serves to alleviate discomfort.
The illness, will still be there.

Don't give anything, without the Pediatrician telling you.
AND BECAUSE, your child has already had, 2 Asthma attacks brought on by colds.
I HIGHLY EMPHASIZE: do not, give over the counter meds to your child willy nilly because she has Asthma. MANY OTC meds, will actually say, do not give to people with Asthma or lung problems.
I know, I have Asthma.

Your child, should be seen by your Pediatrician.
Because, she has MORE issues than a "normal" person. ie: Asthma.

Just so you know, as Asthma attack... can come on very suddenly and you CANNOT PREDICT it.

AND also know that.... a cold, can linger, and it can then become a secondary infection, and it can then turn into Bronchitis or even PNEUMONIA.
I know first hand, because that happened to me too. I have Asthma and colds can quickly, become a VERY serious matter. It can progress more than in a normal person and become very bad very fast.

You need to take your child to the Doctor.

For her runny nose and congestion try childrens allergy medicine. That always seems to work better for my kids to dry up thier runny noses and stop the itchy/ sore throat ( usually due to nasal drip).

a lot of medicines can actually make it last longer I think. Instead of getting all the cold junk out, it keeps it all in and covers up the symptoms. If she has a cough maybe give her some mucinex. It won't get rid of the cough but it will make it more productive and she will feel better sooner. The only type of cold medicine I will give my kids is hylands since it's a little bit more homeopathic. You could also give her some collidial (sp?) silver. That would help a lot! Try lots of vitamin C, zinc, echinacea, lots of water too and chicken noodle soup
Just remember medicine won't get rid of the cough or colds. It just covers up symptoms and then comes back.
Hope she feels better soon

I like the little brand cold remedies. I also use elderberry syrup for my daughter from Herb For Kids. It has a nice taste to it and works great.

I wouldn’t use the Zicam for the nose, they do make melt in your mouth tablets. Zicam is made with zinc so you could try a zinc supplement. They make gummy supplements with Zinc, Vit C and Echinacea that will help boost her immune.